You Have to Give SHRM Credit

You Have to Give SHRM Credit

There is legislation pending before congress that would remove credit background checks from employers’ pre employment screening programs.  The bill HR 3149, the Equal Opportunity for All Act, was introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen, D-TN, and is currently as of October assigned to committee.

Colleen Parker Denston, Human Resources Director at a Maryland prep school and a member of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) testified on behalf of that organization before the subcommittee considering the bill.

Ms. Denson stated, “There is compelling public interest in ensuring that employers can assess the skills, abilities, work habits, and integrity of potential hires.  Credit histories, like other aspects of the background check process, are but one piece of information HR professionals use to evaluate whether an individual should be hired.”

SHRM surveys on employers’ background checks have shown that the use of credit histories have not increased in recent years, despite changes in the economy.

There seems to be a common misconception among opponents of credit histories used in the pre employment process that a certain credit score may eliminate an applicant from consideration, or that unfortunate circumstances such as medical bills or job loss may affect a candidate’s employability.

In actuality, credit reports for employment purposes are restricted from providing a credit score, and most companies using credit reports for employment screening tend to look at the overall credit picture rather than specific slip ups contained in the report.  Most companies use the credit report only as one small part of a larger snapshot of a candidate being considered in the employment screening process.

For more information on the use of credit reports in pre employment screening, call 770-426-0547 or click here to email.

This blog does not represent any official SHRM viewpoint and is informational only.